The invention relates generally to the art of biological catalytic reactor systems with mycelia of fungi and more particularly to hollow mycelial pellets for biocatalytic conversions as well as the preparation of biologically active hollow mycelia pellets from mycelial fungi and preferably of the genus Rhizopus and Mucor.
Mycelial fungi have long been employed in the biocatalytic conversion of organic compounds. Thus, the breakdown of various carbohydrates has to some degree involved the use of fungi, but the use of fungi has been generally limited to an unsupported vegetative mass.
The use of mycelial fungi in biocatalytic systems is limited due to the difficulty in handling such masses. It is known that some mycelial fungi can form mycelial pellets in a conventional shaking culture as described by D. S. Clark, Canadian Journal of Microbiology Volume 8, 133-136 (1962). While such a pellet form is more desirable than the unshaped vegatative mass, not all forms of mycelial fungi are capable of forming such a pellet under conventional methods.
Accordingly, it is the primary object of the present invention to provide a method for preparing hollow mycelial fungal pellets by means of a media manipulation.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improved means for carrying out the biocatalytic conversions of organic compounds.
Still yet a further object of the present invention is to provide Rhizopus and Mucor mycelial hollow pellets having an outer surface of structural integrity. These and other objects of the present invention will become more apparent from the discussion which follows.